THE LA RAZA CRIME TIDAL WAVE - “These figures do not attempt to allege that foreign
nationals in the country illegally commit more
crimes than other groups,” the report states. “It
simply identifies thousands of crimes that should
not have occurred and thousands of victims that
should not have been victimized because the
perpetrator should not be here.”
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON

Thursday, December 13, 2018

More Accusations Of Child Sex Abuse By Priests In Illinois Uncovered In Report

December 20, 20187:34 AM ET

CAT SCHUKNECHT

Accusations of child sex abuse against at least 500 Roman Catholic priests and clergy members in Illinois have never been made public, a preliminary investigation by the state's attorney general has found.

That brings the total number of members in the Illinois dioceses who have been accused of sexually abusing minors to about 690, according to the report released Wednesday. The church previously had made public the names of only 185 accused priests, 45 of whom were added after Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office started investigating in August.

The report out of Pennsylvania was scathing:

"Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all."

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro called it a "systematic cover-up" and a "failure of law enforcement," NPR previously reported. Additionally, the grand jury investigation named the accused priests, something the Illinois attorney general's report did not.

Madigan wanted to see if the same thing was happening in her state. Her office said in a statement that it reviewed thousands of pages of documents voluntarily turned over by each of Illinois' six dioceses and set up a hotline where people could report allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

As Susie An reported for NPR's Morning Edition, Madigan said "one of the things we've seen is that the church really took any opportunity it thought it could not to investigate."

Madigan's office found dozens of examples where the Illinois dioceses "failed to adequately investigate an allegation of clergy sexual abuse it received from a survivor," according to the report.

The investigation revealed that, of the allegations the Illinois dioceses have received, they only "deemed twenty-six percent as 'credible' allegations, meaning seventy-four percent of the allegations were either not investigated, or were investigated but not substantiated."

The reasons the dioceses didn't investigate accusations varied, according to the report. Sometimes the accuser wished to remain anonymous, or the accused priest had left the country, but the most common reason was that the accused had either died or resigned.

The dioceses often discounted allegations that came from just one accuser and "sought to discredit a survivor's allegations based upon the survivor's personal life," according to the investigation.

The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, responded to Madigan's initial findings in a statement:

"I want to express again the profound regret of the whole church for our failures to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse. It is the courage of victim-survivors that has shed purifying light on this dark chapter in church history. ... There can be no doubt about the constant need to strengthen our culture of healing, protection, and accountability. While the vast majority of abuses took place decades ago, many victim-survivors continue to live with this unimaginable pain."

Cupich said it was "difficult to discern" which of the report's findings apply to the Archdiocese of Chicago but defended its efforts to mitigate sexual abuse, claiming to have been at the "forefront of dealing with the issue of clergy sexual abuse for nearly three decades."

He also said in the statement that all reports of sexual abuse are investigated, whether the accused priest is alive or dead, and that, starting in 2002, they have reported all allegations of child sexual abuse to civil authorities, including "historical allegations."

The Diocese of Joliet also responded to the attorney general's report, saying in a statement that the investigation doesn't distinguish between dioceses and that they have received "no formal or informal indication from the Attorney General that we failed to adequately investigate any allegation of abuse and/or report it to authorities."

The attorney general said in a statement that the investigation isn't finished and that her office has asked the state's dioceses for additional information.

But some sexual abuse survivors don't think the preliminary investigation goes far enough, according to An, who was reporting for NPR.

"I don't know what to believe out of the Catholic Church. I really don't, because everything's been so secretive and hidden," Larry Antonsen, a leader with the Chicago branch of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told NPR.

Decades ago, Antonsen reported a priest who had sexually abused him as a child, but he says he's still waiting for the church to publicly list the man's name. He said he hopes Illinois will launch its own grand jury investigation.

Catholic Church's third most senior cleric Cardinal George Pell - known as the 'Vatican's treasurer' - is found GUILTY of sexually abusing two choir boys inside a cathedral

Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choir boys

Pell, an Australian cleric, is the Catholic Church's third most senior clergyman

The 77-year-old is the most senior Catholic to be charged with sexual offences

He is on leave from his position in the Vatican and will appeal the convictions

An Australian court order prevents publication of the verdicts in his homeland

The third most powerful man in the Catholic Church has been found guilty of sexually abusing two boys in the late 1990s.

Cardinal George Pell was unanimously convicted by an Australian jury on Tuesday of sexually abusing two choir boys in the country while serving as Archbishop of Melbourne.

The 77-year-old, who is often referred to as the Vatican's treasurer, was reportedly found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape after three days of deliberations.

Pell became the highest Vatican official ever to stand trial for sex abuse as he took the stand for the case, which was conducted under a gag order preventing him from being named in Australia.

Pope Francis on Wednesday announced the Cardinal would be removed from his cabinet following the announcement of the verdict.

The Vatican made no mention of the accusations against Pell in explaining his departures, and said for now he would not be replaced from the 'C-9 group'.

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Pell faced trial for two historical counts of sexual abuse which allegedly took place while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s

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Pell has reportedly been removed from the Pope's inner circle today, although the Vatican failed to say whether it was related to the conviction

The Cardinal, who was granted a leave of absence from his role last year as the trial got underway, reportedly abused the boys while they were singing in the choir at St. Patrick's cathedral in a room within the confines of the church.

Sources also claimed the abuse took place after Pell introduced a compensation scheme for clerical sexual abuse victims known in Australia as the 'Melbourne Response', which he established in 1996.

The trial, dubbed the 'Cathedral trial' by The Daily Beast, which first reported the conviction, was declared a mistrial earlier this year after a hung jury, but was immediately rescheduled.

Tuesday's verdict in the County Court of Victoria was a retrial of the original case - and resulted in his conviction.

A second trial into Pell's alleged abuse known as 'the swimmers trial' is due to get underway early next year.

George Pell to stand trial on historical child sexual offences

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Pell walks with a heavy Police guard to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on July 26, 2017 last year as the initial trial got underway

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That trial is expected to hear evidence that Pell 'sexually offended' two men when they were boys playing games in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria in the 1970s.

A court in Victoria heard in March that Pell, who has denied all of the allegations, would stay in the pool after swimming laps and play with children.

Pell had repeatedly and vehemently denied the accusations against him and Pope Francis had granted him a leave of absence to return to Australia to defend himself.

The judge who heard Pell's case has continued a gag order on details of the cardinal's trial and guilty verdicts being published in his homeland.

That order, which was applied for by prosecutors, was granted to 'prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice.'

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Pell has served as the Vatican's treasurer since being appointed to the role in 2014 by Pope Francis

Tight security as Cardinal George Pell arrives at court

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Pell has surrendered his passport as part of his bail conditions and is not permitted to leave Australia.

The cardinal was named the Vatican's Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the third highest-ranking cleric in Rome.

Before being called to the Vatican, Pell served as Archbishop of Sydney from 2001 to 2014 and was Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001.

He was ordained in 1966 and made a cardinal in 2003.

Victorian police charged Pell with the sexual assault offences in June last year when he was in Rome.

Pell, who was represented by attorney Robert Richter, QC, stated at a press conference at the time he would return to Australia to answer the charges and he was 'looking forward, finally, to having my day in court'.

'I'm innocent of those charges,' he said at the time. 'They are false.'

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Pope Benedict XVI attends his weekly audience with archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell in Saint Peter's Square in 2006

Who is Cardinal George Pell? All you need to know about the Catholic church sex abuse claims

Who is George Pell?

Born on June 8, 1941 in Ballarat, Victoria, George Pell is Australia’s most senior Catholic and held many significant positions after being ordained in 1966.

Notably, his most recent position has been as the treasurer of the Vatican and the Holy See in Rome, Italy. The role puts George Pell third in charge after the Pope.

Prior to this, the Cardinal was the Archbishop of Sydney and the Archbishop of Melbourne; in the latter position, Pell set up the ‘Melbourne Response’ diocesan protocol to handle and investigate complaints of sexual abuse.

While this protocol was the first of its kind, it garnered criticism because of Pell’s involvement and led to claims that he had knowledge of sexual abuse as a young priest, but also criticised him for procedures he established for handling cases.

On June 29, 2017, George Pell was charged with multiple historical sexual assault offences, but denied all charges. After this, the Pope permitted him to leave the Vatican and return to Australia to defend himself at a committal hearing.

Once believed to be in the running to replace the current Pope after his death, Pell is now the highest-ranking Catholic official to be facing trial for historical sexual offence allegations.

What is George Pell charged with?

Details of the nature and number of charges have not been revealed for legal reasons but in turn, has protected sexual abuse complainants from being identified.

Reporting on the committal hearing, held on March 5, 2018, proved to be difficult because of this reason, as it was closed to the media while evidence was given, but this is standard when sexual offence allegations are involved.

In 2012, Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordered a formal inquiry into historical child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church was scrutinised.

Pell was one of the first to give evidence during public hearings and there had been no suggestion that he was a perpetrator.

During the so-called 'Cathedral trial' earlier this year, it was revealed Pell had been accused of abusing two choir boys while serving as Archbishop of Melbourne.

He was alleged to have carried out the crime within the confines of a cathedral.

A second trial into Pell's alleged abuse known as 'the swimmers trial' is due to get underway early next year.

That trial is expected to hear evidence that Pell 'sexually offended' two men when they were boys playing games in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria in the 1970s.